Holiday Inn Peterborough-Waterfront

I don't turn in a lot of these reviews, but this is a special case. Holiday Inn Peterborough Waterfront's management team were very kind to me this week. I had to reschedule a trip to Peterborough unexpectedly, due to illness, and didn't call until the actual day of the reservation. Mukash, the location manager, was very sympathetic. He allowed me to change the date to a month later, even though that put me into what was a very busy night for them, and honoured my original rate, even though that was materially less than the rate on offer for the new night. This was certainly above and beyond the call of duty. Thanks Mukash, thanks Holiday Inn. I am a very satisfied customer.

We came for the Pool and Location.

Our stay at the Holiday Inn in Peterborough was nothing short of exceptional. The moment we entered, we were greeted with an atmosphere of pristine cleanliness. The attention to detail in maintaining a spotless environment was truly commendable. The impeccable cleanliness extended not only to our room but also to the lobby bathrooms, where even my 8-year-old couldn't help but appreciate the fresh and clean scent.

The staff at the Holiday Inn Peterborough played a pivotal role in making our experience memorable. Every encounter was met with friendly and courteous service. The genuine smiles on the faces of the staff created a warm and welcoming ambiance. It's these small gestures that make a significant difference in the overall impression of a hotel, and the staff here went above and beyond to ensure our comfort and satisfaction.

Our dining experience at the breakfast buffet was delightful. The spread was not only generous but also served warm, reflecting the hotel's commitment to providing quality meals for their guests. It was more than enough to fuel our day, and we appreciated the variety and freshness of the offerings.

Despite the overwhelmingly positive experience, we did encounter a minor issue with someone smoking outside. However, the hotel's response was swift and effective. They immediately rectified the situation by providing us with another room. It was reassuring to see how seriously the hotel took guest concerns, swiftly addressing the issue and ensuring our comfort. The incident was not the hotel's fault; it was simply a situation where a guest was allowed to smoke. The responsiveness and commitment to customer satisfaction demonstrated by the hotel, even in situations beyond their control, left a lasting positive impression.

The willingness of the staff to bend over backward to ensure our happiness was evident throughout our stay. It was evident that they were dedicated to providing a top-notch experience for their guests. This commitment to guest satisfaction was palpable in every aspect of our stay, from the initial check-in to the resolution of the smoking incident.

In conclusion, our experience at the Holiday Inn in Peterborough was outstanding. The combination of impeccable cleanliness, friendly and courteous staff, delicious breakfast options, and a commitment to guest satisfaction makes this hotel stand out. We left with smiles on our faces, grateful for the wonderful memories created during our stay. If you're seeking a hotel that values cleanliness, exceptional service, and guest comfort, the Holiday Inn in Peterborough is undoubtedly a superb choice.

Sincerely Jason & Myracle Mooney

Thomas Johnston at front desk
Couldn’t do enough to help. Printing emails or scanning documents.

Horrible service, booked well in advance with simple requests of ground floor and two queens when I arrived to find we were on the fourth floor I was more than disappointed. The front desk workers Sandeep and Yastrzemski were extremely unhelpful and were condescending towards me and my colleague. I’d highly recommend booking somewhere else if you’re looking for reliable service. Unacceptable

Clean and newly updated rooms. Hotel hallways show their age but rooms were newly updated and clean. Staff was courteous.

NOTICE: This hotel will provide a minimum of a 2 night stay during the summer.

Went there for my brother's wedding reception.
My room overlooked the pool & hot tub. Kinda awkward & creepy.
The dining room was alright, and we had a private room for the wedding party dinner.
There was an outside guest there that was highly inebriated, very crude, rude, and generally very offensive, who continued to get served, despite the scene he was creating.

Really disappointing stay. We could not eat at their patio or restaurant either night of our stay due to their tiny outdoor kitchen being completely overwhelmed. And $22 for a continental breakfast? Absolutely not. Pool area was dirty.

Just fine for a hotel stay if you aren't afraid of a little transient population. The hotel is clean and the staff are delightful. They have a lovely patio with live music near the river in the back.

Friendly and helpful staff.
Front desk, Thomas, was very caring.
Efficient housekeeping service too.

River view room was beautiful. Lots to do in the area. Staff went above and beyond, and were really nice and welcoming. Pool needs a little work, but still really nice.
Patio was great, and the food was amazing. Try the brisket! Restaurant staff were awesome as well!
Would stay again. (Family of 4 vacation, 4 nights)

Loved my stay! Staff were welcoming and very friendly, they went above and beyond to make our stay the best! Hotel was clean and very well taken care of.

A great local hotel right on a great walking path that gets you to downtown Peterborough, the Locks and lift locks, and several near by parks.

The rooms with a view of the lake is beautiful 24/7 and the room itself is pretty clean. I couldn't help notice the strong smell of tar in the room (Not Cigarette Smoke, but tar, like roofing tar). I am not entirely clear if that was the water or their cleaning agent/wax, whatever.

Hotel and cleaning Staff were extremely friendly, and the facilities operated as expected. I encountered no real disappointing experience aside from the smell of the room. I got used to it after a few hours. My room had a nice sized refridgerator to keep my drinks nice and cold.

The nearby area has a couple restaraunts to eat, and Tim Hortons is across the street. There's also a beer store and a convidnence store directly across the street. A grocery is next door on the same side of the street, attached to the walking path.

The location also has a restaraunt on site, but I'd suggest skipping that for anything other than drinks. The food wasn't all that good (speed, quality). Service was friendly though, just not fast (Clearly overwhelmed)

Great location, one major issue I find is, there is never anyone who answers the phone at the Front Desk. This is almost a safety issue as on several stays and even today, 6 calls to the Front Desk/ Hotel operator over the last 1.5 hours go un-answered, phone just rings endlessly. He check-in with 4-6 customers waiting and only one person on the desk, very under staffed, Owner/Manage in office, does nothing to support the Front Desk staff.

Very nice and quiet place. The staff was very friendly. The only downside is there is no complementary breakfast you have to go to the restaurant.

We came with family to see the band playing and the service was awful so unorganized then when we were leaving the said we didn't pay

Hotel was fine as usual but the Riverside Grill and Bar (which I had verified was fully open) was closed when we went down for dinner at 5 pm due to running out of food. It did finally reopen at 7 pm but if needed more food or bar items especially on a holiday weekend they should have planned ahead. The head of the bar at the Riverside Grill Ashley Alexander was the only one who tried to help at the restaurant. They should promote her. But finally after 2 hours they did reopen and we got our dinner. As much as we love the location right on the river (have been here many times before COVID) i doubt we will return. How to ruin our anniversary! The hotel has to be good in all aspects.

I came here for an after work beer. Beautiful location right on the river. The server was clearly new but was really nice and not an issue. (Asked for a pitcher of beer and two glasses of water, got 2 beers and a jug of water lol, not a biggie). Plus side: they have a great smoker called the hulk, it looks like it means business. Great menu, wonton nachos etc; cool spin on pub food. Good selection of cold beer.
Bad stuff: not much really. The speaker was blown and was shouting oldies (easy fix but…), the umbrellas don’t tilt so when we showed up (4: 30 pm) it was 28 plus humid x and every table was in direct sun even with an umbrella. The manager was super nice and slid another table over and provided shade. It would’ve been three stars but they also have a great stage and live music. Also, no French fries on the patio: (Not their fault. I’m guessing it’s a safety patio kitchen thang. And for point of reference, I rarely give 5 stars so, 4 is a decent rating. I will come back.

THOMAS JOHNSTEN who was working the front desk today was one of the most kind and helpful people ever. Not only did I witness him deal with multiple time sensitive requests at the same time but he did so calmly and with absolute kindness. I am writing this review from the parking lot becuase I was so touched by his service.

Rooms are clean and beds are comfortable. Visited this place during big thunderstorm in Ontario in May 2022 when the whole region was without power. Staff did everything to make our visit perfect even without power. They set up generator, they brought us hot water. They also made a refund for a one night stay during power outage. Thank you guys! Great service.

If I could give it 0 I would. Stayed last weekend. When checking in we put the $100 deposit on one card and the room on another credit card. They ended up charging BOTH credit cards the full room rate! And when you try to call to get a hold of anyone they don't answer their phones. Will be reporting to the business bureau soon if I don't get a refund on the one card.

I stayed here not even a day its a small town and 150 $ for the stay but at checkout i was charged 200 $ and 50$ for parking and a hotel sustainability fee? The bathrooms have issues and the A/ C it’s not working never ever stay here

Dirty bathroom. Shower had hairs. Management tried to make good and move us to another room at 11 at night. Gave us a $50 voucher to enjoy breakfast. Breakfast arrived. Was horrible from the hollindaise sauce to my receiving sausage instead of bacon. We got up and left without eating after finding a hair in our cloth napkin. Went across the street to Smitty's and paid for a wonderful breakfast.

Visiting Peterborough for a quick visit.

The hotel itself is a standard Holiday Inn.   We had our room in the side facing the road, but we weren't there for the views.   The side facing the river would give you something nicer to look at.

The pool area is really nice.   That's what makes this hotel worth it for us. It's heated and has an outdoor portion,   which is really interesting being outside in the pool when it's 8c out.   Hot tub and sauna were nice.

The fitness facilities on premise were adequate.

I didn't try the restaurant but others gave it decent reviews.

Overall its a decent place to stay, we were here to explore the area and the hotel is centrally located.

We stayed in this hotel for a weekend getaway. Our room faces the river and is quite comfy. However, the exhausting fan is not independent to the room and therefore the bathroom became very damp after each use.

The male receptionists provided excellent services during our stay, including giving recommendations to local restaurants and attractions. Unfortunately, the female receptionist showed a condescending attitude when we checked in and blamed us for booking through the third party website. We also offered to pay for a room upgrade but were told to get what we paid for and there's absolutely no changes.

However, her attitude changed 180 once we told her that we contacted IHG and were members of the hotel. She upgraded our room and did not charge for parking. We didn't want her to ruin our trip, but her conducts were unprofessional. We have reported her to the head office.

First i am happy with front desk receptionist, becuase they so friendly and helpful. Rooms so clean and peaceful. I celebrated my girl birthday here. Am so happy to be here. See you soon again.

I like this place, but it has changed. The area has a lot of homeless people. The hotel was clean. The staff were friendly. I will go back there.

Shockingly, this was the worst stay and sleep at a Holiday Inn I've ever had. The laminate floor strip was laid on a cement floor with cracks, and broken piece of concrete. This allows for the floor to rise up when you step on it. Bar fridge was UNPLUGGED in the middle if the night because it was so loud! And me hearing aids were out! The strong vibration from the fan, kept me awake.
Exhausted the entire next day. Not good at all.
Several attempts to call the manager were made the following two days without answer.
Staff is friendly! That's the reason for one star, second star was for a clean room.

It's a great property. The waterfront view is amazing. Very polite and helpful employees. At front desk Thomas and Shaniya are amazing. We had a bridal shower getaway and both of them helped and accommodated our requirements. The restaurant has amazing food as well.

I spend few nights in holiday inn waterfront property. First of all FO staff was very friendly and courteous specially Thomas and Kevin in the day and Elizabeth at night. They fullfilled all my requirement of early check-in. Room was nice specious and warm. Balcony was good to sit and spend time. Couldn't use swimming pool and gym bcoz of covid19 restrictions. Hotel lobby was quite and clean. Like to go again.

The staff were very friendly. The hotel is kept clean. I enjoyed the view of the river. I was especially pleased that they allow pets.

Hotel is fine, but noise 24/7 from the radio playing outside the restaurant is extremely annoying! Can hear it all night! Who thought this was a good idea?

Emergency stop because of icey roads and they had room for us and a king bed.breakfast in the morning was good aswell

Can be loud as it's close to busy street. Friendly staff, welcoming. The tv don't allow for any HDMI configuring so people that want to use Chromecast or fire stick or gaming are stuck to standard cable.

Nice rooms, location and amenities, but would like to see better support for the customer service staff- which would help with customer satisfaction. Thanks

It’s like a glorified motel, on-site parking adds $7 a day which is very petty because of course you need parking. Swimming pool open but not changing rooms, that’s a bit of Covid-related managerial nonsense. You can hear guests from other rooms, so the soundproofing leaves to be desired. View is OK if you have it. Cleanliness is OK. Worth $100 or $130, certainly not $170. Good for short term business stay

The reception staff were great to work with as I had to continually add onto my stay as I was waiting for my husband to be released from the local hospital as we live out of town and I could not drive at the time due to an issue with my eyes.

We had an amazing experience at Holiday Inn. Check-In was fast. Thomas helped upgrade our room to river view and all formalities were completed within 10 minutes. The room was very clean and comfortable. Being on level 1 the door led out to a patio and a well maintained garden that led to the river with magnificent views.

They gave someone else the room they gave us for when we were getting ready a family walked into our room sink and showered didn’t drain and the charge me 100 extra dollars after seeing the wouldn’t also left the room super clean

Took a trip up to Peterborough and decided to stay at the holiday inn. The hotel was very clean, especially my room. The view was excellent and the customer service was spectacular!

Everything was great other then Kendell at the front desk. Absolutely disrespectful. Take whatever she says with a grain of salt. She knows nothing about the Holiday Inn guidelines or about respecting guests. On a positive note, the manager the next morning was very helpful and kind. I explained to her what happened and she instantly made a call to head office to rectify the issue.

The room was clean and well organized. I have received great customer service with a warm welcoming when i arrived.
Thank you to Holiday Inn with a best managemen

Booked in advance for a long weekend, after 1 night got kicked out cause they changed our reservation to 1 night instead of 4.

Friendliest staff you could ever hope for. Pristine rooms, really comfy bed and the on site restaurant serves up some great food!

The best ratings possible for our weekend events at the Holiday Inn Peterborough Waterfront, from August 6 through to the 8th, 2021.
It started with hosting family in our 4th floor suite Friday night,
Wedding Renewal Vows in the Garden Room with patio for pictures and cocktail hour Saturday afternoon, through to toasts with champagne & hibiscus flowers in the Ballroom for buffet dinner and dancing that night.
Then on Sunday, back in the Garden Room for the Baby Shower Brunch. I was impressed each day; the staff were so helpful, all requests were gladly accommodated, the food was fabulous, and the location could not have been better; and oh my gosh what great beds!
A wonderful time was had by all! Special recognition to Lisa, Catering Sales Manager, who helped us through the stress of planning events during COVID. She was reassuring and helped to make this a beautiful, memorable experience for my daughter and her husband.
THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Great location near the heart of downtown Peterborough and on the River. It has a nice riverfront patio and aheated indoor and outdoor pool. Ask for riverfront room on the 3rd or 4th floor, it's worth the money. Friendly service.

Great location, rooms ok, but terrible organization. They fully booked the hotels and didn't have enough staff to clean the rooms on time, couldn't check it until 1730. Only offered a small discount after I requested it. Will be staying elsewhere next time.

The staff where good the wheel chair bathrooms, and pool accessibility where terrible everyone standing around washrooms to let there parents with walkers out.the pool lift broken they said engineering staff on vacation.lol just out of a four month lock down Really! Had a family gathering and burgers where raw. Was my old Moms last visit with family in her home town what a let down.

Bought breakfast as part of package. Two breakfasts, $15.00, ordered online from the Hotels.com web site. The front desk refused to honor. Rooms, while reasonably clean, they were totally void of everything. Even any information about what was available locally, not even a plastic bag for wet bathing suits. I assume that this would transfer COVID-19 to you! But don't they clean in between between guests? Actually the room was the empty of all but soap. Very disappointing for $200.00 per night. When you want "Totally Sucks" this is it! Peterborough you deserve better!

My husband and I came here to get away for the night with our dog. We arrived early and asked if an early check in was possible but told our room wasn’t ready yet which was perfectly fine. We went to check in 45 minutes later (our actual check in time given) at 4pm but told again that our room was still not ready. At this point there were quite a few people in the lobby getting agitated that the rooms were not ready.
We were eventually able to check In at 6pm, 2 hours after our check in time! When we got to the room it was less then impressive. It was clean, however the appearance of it was less then anticipated. The so called “updated bathroom” was far from. Small sink, very outdated shower and no switch to turn the fan on. The hallway to our room stunk of cigarettes. The so called “river view” was blocked by trees and edges and the fridge was barely cold. Staff was friendly to deal with thought.

Hopeless hotel. Due to a booking error our room wasn't available until near 7PM. No substitute accommodations after a long day of travel, just "come back, we can't commit to a time". Received minor compensation in the form of a 15% discount on the room.
Ordered breakfast the next day. 25 minutes estimated wait time for yogurt, fruit and coffee. Told us they'd call the room when ready. No call came. When we rang down they said it was ready and to come get it. When we get there they've got the order wrong.
I can understand a few hiccups but screwing up with this consistency just screams "we don't care".
Kudos to the housekeeping staff, at least the room was clean.

Everything I needed for a good stay in the area. Reasonable rates. Fenced courtyard to keep things safe for the kids. Good restaurant. I suppose the only point to improve would be allowing room service beyond restaurant hours - but no big deal.

Stayed here for 2 nights & had a wonderful experience. The staff is very helpful and friendly. Rooms are spacious and has all the required amenities specially the microwave. River side rooms are cool and the ground floor rooms are with the balcony (attaches to the garden). We really had a good time.

Us: Hey, let’s book the Holiday Inn across town because their little outdoor pool is open.
Us: Can we book a room this Saturday? Can we book a slot for the pool?
Clerk: No, you have to wait until you check-in at 4.
Us: We are here to check-in! Can we book a slot for the pool?
Clerk: No, unfortunately, it is all booked up. Same-day booking policy, booking opens at 6am. Should have called beforehand. Book first thing tomorrow for a morning slot.
Us: So we can’t book now for tomorrow? Booking opens at 6am, great, got it!
Us at 6am: Okay here to book the pool. 10?
Clerk: Okay, 10 to 11 is good. Signed up.
Clerk at 9am: We overbooked for the pool, no never mind, 10 is still good.
Clerk at 9: 30am: Actually, we have overbooked and you can’t swim at 10: 00, but can have a much later slot after checkout time (we have plans after checkout time…)
Us: How can you have overbooked? We were at the desk at 6am and the page was blank until our names were added to? Didn't the booking open at 6am like you said?
Clerk: The general manager made an exception and let some people pre-book ahead of the day.
Us: Why are we being asked to forfeit our slot and not the folks who jumped the cue and were allowed to preferentially book outside the booking window? Nepotism we say. Let us talk to the general manager (unavailable of course). We demand a refund.
Clerk: We are very sorry. Not nepotism, the other people complained until they were allowed to sign up early.
Us @ 9: 45: We still want to talk to the general manager. Have him call. I raise my voice and a PR is sent to talk to/manage us/me.
PR person: We made a mistake which we corrected with a refund of your room.
Us: We had no desire for a room per se, we live across town. We just wanted to swim and otherwise would not have wanted the room. A refund does not correct the situation. The hotel is standing by their mistake by not asking the people who jumped the cue to rebook and are instead asking us to forfeit our legitimately booked slot. We repeatedly followed the hotel instructions for pool booking and were repeatedly denied a slot.
PR person: The other party is already in the pool. I can’t ask them to get out.
Us: How can that be? It is before 9: 45am right now. Our time slot wasn’t until 10am.
PR person: Wasn’t your slot 9am?
Us: No, 10am. You say you want to correct the error, here is your chance. Honour our booking. Call the other people who jumped the cue and tell them they have to rebook, that you made a mistake allowing them to book a day before and need to honour your same-day booking policy.
PR person: Let me see what I can do (goes and talks to clerks and then comes back). Unfortunately, they are already in the pool and I cannot possibly ask them to leave.
Us: Why are they in the pool now? It is 9: 45 - do they have it booked for 2 hours, from 9 until 11? Or more? Because our slot wasn’t until 10. Is it that much preferential treatment? That they can book it longer than an hour too? Who are these people that you couldn’t possibly ask to leave but feel justified in asking us to forfeit our legitimately booked slot? How important are these folks?
PR person: No.no, nothing like that. No preferential treatment. (but our pool view room tells us that the folks we saw swimming at 9 were still swimming in the pool well after 10 when we walked by the pool on our way out).

The staff don't even answer the phone. Unfortunately this happens at many hotels, no communication, no good ratings.

Thomas checked us in. We went to our room and we’re not happy with the view that we had specifically requested - a river view. It was on the ground floor and hard to see the river for the hedge. Thomas quickly corrected that and gave us an amazing room on a higher floor.
We had a wonderful time, everything was clean and the staff highly professional.
That night there were some dogs left unattended in a room across the hall. They barked on and off all night long. We mentioned it to the staff upon checkout, Ellie and Karen who were also both amazing! They apologized profusely and gave us a discount on our bill for the inconvenience.
10/10 will be returning to this location for future trips just based on our interaction with these three staff alone.

I stayed for 3 weeks, and had a great experience, until the last few nights! There is a new manager, and this manager made me never want to return, after 3 days of their employment. I was ripped off and disrespected, beyond imagination. The owner has been notified.

Really nice room, pool, hot tub, restaurant. Service very friendly from check-in to housekeeping staff. The main road can be a bit noisy at night so a waterfront room is more desirable for sure. Restaurant is expensive. Hotel bar/restaurants usually are though. Go explore the nice restaurants down the street. So many to choose from.

Staff were friendly and approachable, especially the awesome restaurant staff. Rooms were clean and bright. Ours faced the waterway, and it was rather refreshing to be able to open the door to the balcony and have fresh air without bugs

All in all it was a nice experience. Pool was wonderful. Got to swim in the snow. Kids loved it. Need to sweep under beds better.

Receptionist was great. Made you feel welcome. Knew what she was doing. Also the rooms were very clean and looked modern. Oh, and pizza and beer right across the street

Great location: walk to town, movies, restaurants, grocery store. On the water front with lots of places to walk or ride your bike. Newly renovated, very comfortable and clean. Pool, hot tub and sauna were great. Swim from the indoor pool to the outdoor pool. Loved it. Friendly staff.

Nicely renovated new hotel. But they charge for everything including parking. Doors are thing. Cleaning crew knocks on doors at 7: 30 am for room service

The hotel was undergoing renovations when we stayed, but the staff was friendly and helpful and the rooms were clean.

Great location, rooms were up to date and clean. Very quiet dispite the outdoor pool and bar. We had a great time looking forward to booking here again.

Rooms were comfortable, bed/pillows were awesome.restaurant was good.personnel was helpful. Rating is so low because of noise.thin walls and windows made impossible to create a relaxing environment. Heard next door drop a key on floor, road noise was extensive. Couldn't sleep at all.

Marginal at best. Come on Peterborough when will you get a Hilton or Marriott for the business traveler.

I am not happy with this hotel as we had a function there on the 17 Nov2018 and the parking lot was nothing but ice. One of our ladies fell was taken to hospital by ambulance from the hotel. She needed surgery as her ankle was broken in three places. Subsequent to that she has now been off work for 12 weeks and the hotel has been giving her the run around. All she wanted was the hotel to cover her loss of wages, not much considering what she has gone thur in the last 12 weeks. She now has to contact a lawyer as her expenses are out of control with no money coming in.

This hotel said when this incident happened no problem we well help you out don’t worry. Well this is not what is happening at all they want proof it happened. The individual this happened to calls all the time to the contact number the hotel gave her to no avail.this is so wrong she is just an average lady she didn’t ask to brake her ankle on their property or be off work 12 and counting. Her doctor informed her last week she may need another surgery as the screw and plate put in her foot are rubbing her skin to a point of unbearable pain. She only found this out as she just got a walking cast this week. Unbelievable that this happened at our Xmas party.what a party. And no she didn’t drink as she was driving that evening.
It was the hazardous condition of the parking lot that caused this and the hotel needs to he held responsible. This poor lady just wasn’t lost wages that is a bare minimum as far as I am concerned.
Please help by avoiding this hotel until they help this lady out!

This could have been you.think about you having NO income for 12 weeks.

AVOID THIS HOTEL UNTIL THE HELP HER!

Nice room with a gorgeous view of the river and docks. Our only complaint was that out King sized bed was well worn with a big divot in the middle. Staff were excellent

Room was good, but having to pay for parking while a guest there is ridiculous. They should register guest cars to their rooms and charge, ticket or tow any cars not registered to the hotel. Price for room was good. Nice hotel, friendly guest.

Good hotel! But you HAVE to pay for parking:/ Overall nice hotel and helpful staff! Breakfast in bed is nice too!

Went for a pop up bridal dress show. Didn't have much in the way of interactions with hotel staff, but the hotel was clean and had kids activities going on in the lobby while we were there. It was pirate day.

Downtown location makes it easy to walk to restaurants and shopping. Newly renovated rooms are modern and clean. The rooms overlooking the water have a much nicer view than the front facing rooms.

Third time staying here. A couple of surprises on bill. $5 for parking overnight. Saying yes to Orange juice when offered at buffet breakfast, turned out to be an additional $4 each.